Duquesne Post-Game

[Papa33]

Kia's best line was

Question: What is the most memorable thing that you will take away from this game?

Kia: My 2 airballs.
It boggles my mind how mentally tough Kia is to air ball her first 3pt shot and then drill all the others in the first half. Then it happens again in the second half.

As tough as she has always been, early in her career at Uconn she suffered bouts of self-doubt that the School of Geno had to work on. Recall the game when she couldn't hit a shot and streamed tears at the bench. Geno gave her no hugs at the moment; in essence, he told her to stop feeling sorry for herself and becoming a burden on her teammates. Education works when it helps "students" develop their strengths and master their weaknesses. Kia has been a wonderful student, and a grateful one to gauge from her comments. Bravo to both her and Geno.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Kia's best line was

Question: What is the most memorable thing that you will take away from this game?

Kia: My 2 airballs.


It boggles my mind how mentally tough Kia is to air ball her first 3pt shot and then drill all the others in the first half. Then it happens again in the second half.

She missed only 2 shots all night--the airballs to start each half. After that, she was pure money.

 

[Plebe]

It was very enlightening to me the story of how Kia moved into the starting lineup after the Stanford Loss. Kia was very down on herself for fouling out and thinking she did not do enough and Geno said Kia was very despondent after the loss. In Geno's eyes, she was not the problem but the solution, inserted her into the lineup and said play defense. At the time Geno said what a great competitor she is. Kia looks back at this and says what a wonderful lesson it was to realize you need to focus on what you do best and the rest will come.

It's a rare thing for a UConn freshman to become a fixture in the starting lineup, especially that early in the year.

Kia is a rare gem, yet has often gone overlooked because (a) such stellar talents surrounded her through her first two years, and (b) her greatest strengths are of the non-statted variety.